The family of missing Russian Alexei Slabinskiy are to increase the rewards offered for the solution of his disappearance and, possibly, murder, and the capture of the two men believed to be behind it.

A Russian Police Volunteer from Region 8 told The Phuket News’ sister paper Novosti Phuketa today (April 7) that thanks to more contributions from family and friends, the reward for information leading to the capture of Andrei Zabelin, aka Olaksandr Boychuk, and Aleksandr Novichkov will be increased to B500,000 each.

In addition, the family is offering a reward of B300,000 that will go to the police officer who arrests the two men.

Meanwhile, Mr Slabinskiy’s girlfriend, Yana Strizheus, who was the sole witness to the kidnapping, left Phuket during the weekend for Moscow, the volunteer said.

A body was found last week in countryside near Baan Dan. Although police believe the corpse is that of Mr Slabinskiy, this has yet to be established through dental records or DNA.